Is Internet driving Letterman away?

By David Bianculli

Updated 9:56 AM ET, Fri April 4, 2014

Memorable 'Late Show' moments20 photos

Memorable 'Late Show' moments – Even when CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" veers into awkward, uncomfortable territory for the guest -- as it often does -- Letterman never loses his cool. In fact, the opposite happens: The show only gets better. Now, after more than 30 years in the business, Letterman has mastered the art of pressing just the right buttons to ensure great TV.

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Memorable 'Late Show' moments20 photos

Memorable 'Late Show' moments – Any moment with legend Johnny Carson and legend-in-the-making Letterman was destined to be a classic, but Carson's appearance on the "Late Show" in May 1994 is the most memorable. The former "Tonight Show" host opted to make his last TV showing with Letterman, who appropriately handed over his desk chair to his idol.

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Memorable 'Late Show' moments20 photos

Tribute to Johnny Carson – After Johnny Carson died in January 2005, David Letterman paid tribute to him in the best way he knew: by turning over his entire monologue to the celebrated comedian and TV personality, composing it of jokes Carson had written.

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Memorable 'Late Show' moments20 photos

Madonna's F-bombs – In March 1994, Madonna severely tested Letterman's mettle in an exchange that's become a standout late night moment. Letterman introduced Madge as a top-selling pop star who'd slept with some of the biggest names in the industry, which prompted Madonna to go off a very profane deep end. At last count, somewhere around 13 F-bombs were dropped over the course of the interview.

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Memorable 'Late Show' moments20 photos

Drew Barrymore flashes Dave – When Drew Barrymore showed up on "Letterman" in 1995, she came bearing gifts -- of a sort. The then-20-year-old actress was a ball of "good energy," and when talk turned to her interest in "nude performance dance," Letterman of course had to get a preview -- complete with flashing. It was his birthday, after all.

First broadcast after 9/11 – Letterman's first show after the September 11 attacks was an understandably subdued and emotional episode. The monologue was skipped in favor of honoring those lost in the attack. Dan Rather was one of the night's guests, and he memorably couldn't hold back tears as he recited "America the Beautiful."

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Memorable 'Late Show' moments20 photos

Honoring Warren Zevon – In the fall of 2002, Letterman showed his graciousness and tender heart when he dedicated an entire episode to the terminally ill Warren Zevon in a celebration of his music. The singer-songwriter passed away the following year.

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Memorable 'Late Show' moments20 photos

McCartney performs – Musician Paul McCartney took over the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater, where the Beatles made big news in 1964, to performs for the '"Late Show" on July 15, 2009.

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Memorable 'Late Show' moments20 photos

Dave and Oprah bury the hatchet – It had been 16 years since Oprah Winfrey last set foot on "Letterman" when she finally returned in December 2005. The episode of course brought in monster ratings, as it appeared that the two were making up. The irony was that neither truly knew -- or at least would admit on TV -- what caused their supposed "feud," or if there was ever a tiff in the first place.

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Memorable 'Late Show' moments20 photos

Michael Richards' mea culpa – When you need to make a massive apology, it makes sense to turn to the well-respected Letterman to help you out. That's what "Seinfeld's" Michael Richards ended up doing in November 2006, with help from Letterman's guest of the night, Jerry Seinfeld. Richards, however, wasn't in the studio -- he made his apology via satellite after coming under fire for using the N-word during a tirade at a comedy club. "Awkward" doesn't begin to describe the appearance.

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Dave and Bill O'Reilly call a truce – Before Bill O'Reilly and David Letterman found a reason to high-five one another in 2011, they'd had a war of words while taping "Late Show" in 2006. The conversation was about the Iraq War, and the debate became so agitated that the light-hearted comments turned into terse insults.

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Paris Hilton gets grilled – Paris Hilton braved seeing Letterman again in 2008 even after he upset her during her 2007 interview. The late night host grilled her about her jail time to the point that she said she was "sad" she'd even come on the show. The following year, Letterman acknowledged how tough he'd been on the celebutante and made nice.

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Memorable 'Late Show' moments20 photos

John McCain in the hot seat – After initially trying to skip out on Letterman's show in 2008, John McCain finally made it into the hot seat that October. The politician was faced with chatting up a man who roasted him for his cancellation in an earlier monologue. Both moments were deliciously squirmy TV.

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Memorable 'Late Show' moments20 photos

Joaquin Phoenix's strange act – Watching Joaquin Phoenix appear on "Letterman" in 2009 was like watching a train wreck -- it was so hard to watch, but you just couldn't look away. Phoenix had drastically altered his appearance and behaved strangely, as Letterman tried to figure out how to navigate the puzzle before him. It was all an act, though, and Phoenix returned to the show in 2010 to apologize.

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Memorable 'Late Show' moments20 photos

Dave's shocking confession – In October 2009, Letterman made a stunning admission live on the air when he told his audience that he'd had sexual relationships with female members of his staff, and that someone had been attempting to blackmail him as a result. The following Monday, he used his show to offer a "heartfelt" apology to his wife and to his female staffers.

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Memorable 'Late Show' moments20 photos

Richard Simmons goes up in smoke – Richard Simmons and David Letterman have a wonderfully antagonistic friendship, and out of the many times the fitness king has appeared on the program, it's hard to pick a favorite. This moment from 2009, when Simmons and Letterman bickered over how to use a food steamer just before it burst into flames, is the kind of late night gold that other hosts dream about.

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Dave and Jay Leno team up – Letterman isn't above poking some friendly fun at his rival, Jay Leno, and in the disastrous NBC late night wars of 2010, Letterman kicked it up a notch. But, we assume, it was all in good fun -- Letterman still joined Oprah Winfrey and Leno in a "Late Show" promo during the Super Bowl that year, an ad that was said to be Letterman's idea.

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Memorable 'Late Show' moments20 photos

Lindsay Lohan gets emotional – Prior to her court-mandated stint in rehab, Lindsay Lohan gave an emotional but also surprisingly endearing and transparent interview. Letterman, of course, didn't take the easy route and asked pointed, frank questions. Although he led her down a road that ended in tears, the host commended Lohan when it was done: "We never thought we'd see you again, honestly, because of the jokes and stuff," he told her. "But you have enough spine, enough sense of yourself, enough poise to come out here and talk to me."

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Cher keeps Dave on his toes – Cher and Letterman have a storied past, as the singer seems to have a unique ability to confound the comedian. Once in 1996 she told him he looked like "s---," and generally gave him a hard time. However, the singer has appeared on his show several times since, including in 2013, when she gave him a big hug after performing a song off her latest album.

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Story highlights

David Letterman, who's retiring in 2015, has been a talk show host for 33 years

David Bianculli says it's more than Fallon's "Tonight Show" turn

He says many people see late-night shows as short bits or viral videos online the next day

Bianculli: Internet age has devalued Letterman's forte of monologue, hourlong show

When David Letterman made the surprise announcement on Thursday's "Late Show with David Letterman" that he planned to retire in 2015, his stated reasons were that he was just about to turn 67, had been doing the job for more than three decades and wanted to spend more time with his son and family. Hard to argue with any of that.

An unstated reason is probably that the younger new wave of late-night TV hosts is not only nipping at his heels but pulling ahead of him.

Most important of all, however, is that in the age of the Internet, the way viewers take in late-night TV is not what it was when Letterman was honing his style. The battle for viewers is now fought more with four-minute viral videos the next morning than complete shows with monologues and conversations as integral ingredients.

Indeed, his mastery of the form has kept him behind a talk-show desk for 33 years. Start with four months as the host of daytime's "The David Letterman Show" in 1980. Add the 1982-93 run of "Late Night with David Letterman" on NBC, followed by the "Late Show with David Letterman" run that's 21 years now and counting.

By the time Letterman walks out of the Ed Sullivan Theater for the last time, he'll have clocked a third of a century as a late-night TV host and monologist. That's longer than Johnny Carson, who was the former late-night king at 30 years. Longer than Jay Leno, who managed 20 in two different shifts. Longer than anyone at that very rarified, high-pressure job.

Like Steve Allen, Jack Paar and Dick Cavett before him, Letterman brought enough to the party to rank him as one of the very best. Even though Leno's "Tonight Show," a direct time-slot rival to Letterman's program on CBS, drew more viewers for most of its run, Letterman produced more memorable programs, more classic bits and -- as when he was the first New York talk-show host to return after, and react to, the terrorist attacks of September 11 -- more instances of truly classic television moments.

The speculation tying the timing of Letterman's departure to the introduction of Jimmy Fallon in February as the newest host of "The Tonight Show" probably has some validity. It's no secret that Letterman wanted to be Carson's successor and long saw NBC's "Tonight" as the crown jewel of late-night TV, which it had been throughout the reigns of Allen, Paar and Carson. After being passed over for Leno, Letterman subsequently saw the NBC job go to Conan O'Brien, to Leno again and then to Fallon.

Certainly, by the time Fallon started at "Tonight," Letterman was used to being beaten in the ratings by NBC, and that trend has only intensified. Since the latest late-night talent shifts, Fallon's "Tonight Show" has drawn about twice as many viewers as Letterman (5.2 million to Letterman's 2.7, with ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" just behind Letterman at 2.6). In the coveted 18-49 demographic, Letterman comes in third, behind Kimmel as well as Fallon.

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But the real shift isn't in who's watching but in who's not watching. "The Tonight Show" of the Carson era, so revered by Letterman (and by older viewers and TV critics like myself), was must-see TV before that term was invented. Millions of people didn't think of going to bed before hearing Carson's monologue, to get his take on what happened that day.

In 2014, though, that's simply not happening. Every term, I ask my college students at Rowan University how many of them watch any of the late-night shows as they're first televised. This includes even Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report," for which they're the ideal target audience. And every term, fewer hands go up.

They are waiting for those pieces of the previous night's talk shows spoon-fed to them, either as morning-show highlights or as viral videos on news sites or shared by Facebook friends.

Perhaps, had the Internet come along many decades earlier, Carson's Ed Ames tomahawk throw would have gone viral -- but that's the only part viewers would have seen. The nightly monologues, as comedic currency, have been devalued, and the popularity of a show -- and a host -- can be measured as much today by quick hits of brilliant comedy business rather than a solid hour of entertainment.

Fallon, of course, is superb at this game; his musical bits alone are guaranteed to feed a steady course of streaming videos. Kimmel is good at it too, and even the host following Letterman on CBS, Craig Ferguson of "The Late Late Show," has attracted many millions of YouTube hits with snippets of his antics.

Letterman, like British counterpart Graham Norton on BBC America's "The Graham Norton Show" import, sees his show as a one-hour complete entity. That fewer members of his audience are seeing it that way may be the biggest reason he's leaving.

If no one is watching TV in real time any more, then what does being a "late-night" host even mean?